Say what you want about the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill: necessary to protect consumers, a stranglehold on the economy, a must to fix up Wall Street. Whatever your opinion, there is a small provision in this colossal 2,319-page measure that deserves the attention of everyone concerned about the future competitiveness of the U.S. energy industry: new regulations regarding payment disclosure.

These specialized disclosure rules (Title XV, Section 1504), which fall under the jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), are of particular concern to U.S. companies in the oil, natural gas, and mining businesses.

In short, these SEC rules would require that companies listed with the commission who are extracting fossil fuels abroad disclose every payment made to a foreign government. This includes every type of payment: bids on leases, royalties, even proprietary financial data on a single well or pit.

Disclosure and more transparency in the international energy market is a very good thing. Moreover, as Sens. Ben Cardin and Richard Lugar have emphasized, these new rules are a sound and sensible approach to make it harder for corrupt governments overseas to extort concessions from companies, all the while leaving virtually no benefit to their general populations.

There are major pitfalls to these SEC rules, however: mandates which were supposed to be finalized last April. First, non-SEC-listed companies are exempt from these disclosure rules. Who might they be? Well, some of the world’s the largest oil and natural gas companies for starters. PetroChina, Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), and Russia’s Rosneft would not have to provide any of their payment information for their work in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, or anywhere else.

This puts the likes of Chevron, ExxonMobil, and ConocoPhillips at a substantial competitive disadvantage in the global marketplace. Just about any stock in the Energy SPDR (XLE) ETF is disadvantaged.

In the intensifying global race to meet the world’s growing energy demand, the SEC’s efforts give a leg-up to states like Iran or India as they seek to outbid or outmaneuver U.S. companies.

Second, especially in our uncertain economic environment, U.S. regulators should avoid onerous regulations such as these SEC transparency rules. Rather than advocating for policies like these, regulators and lawmakers alike should seek to strengthen U.S. companies amidst growing competition, not weaken them. This is essential to get our economy back on track.

If these rules are finalized, thirdly, it will be an especially tough pill to swallow for U.S. energy firms, who already have been dealt setbacks concerning the Keystone XL pipeline and new taxation proposals. We must not forget that the real victims of these setbacks for such an integral U.S. industry are manufacturers, motorists, and investors, among many others.